Pete Holmes understands the art of conversation, especially how to get people to open up about their strange secret tendencies.
It's what helped Holmes, known for his youth pastor aesthetic and wholesome jokes, build his 20-plus-year comedy career (his next show is Jan. 21 at Largo at the Coronet) and create his semi-autographic HBO series “Crashing.”
In Sunday Funday, the people of Los Angeles tell us step by step their ideal Sunday in the city. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
In 2011, Holmes launched “You Made It Weird,” an interview-style podcast that delves into topics like the meaning of life, mental health, art, and everything in between. More than 1,000 episodes later, she's celebrating the show's 14th anniversary and recently signed with podcast network Lemonada Media (which also hosts Julia Louis-Dreyfus' “Wiser Than Me,” “The Sarah Silverman Podcast,” and “Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know”).
“I never thought about stopping for even a second, which is a good sign that you're doing something you're supposed to do,” says Holmes, whose guests include John Mulaney, Maya Rudolph, Anna Kendrick, Kenan Thompson and Henry Winkler. Once a week, Holmes co-hosts the show with his wife of eight years, Valerie Chaney.
Your nervous system also assures you that you have found the right project. While Holmes says he feels “tense” before his stand-up performances, there is a sense of comfort in sitting face-to-face with someone and simply having a conversation. “When I do my podcast, especially in person, there's very, very little tension,” he says. “I have discovered that it is the thing that bothers me the least in the world of entertainment.”
Here's how Holmes would spend an ideal Sunday in Los Angeles with Chaney and her 7-year-old daughter Lila.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.
8 am: Visit to café with sense of humor
My daughter and I are morning people, which really works because her mother is not a morning person. So we get up early and color, make breakfast and that kind of stuff. But if we all got up together (which is what my wife would want to do even though she doesn't like it) we would go to bru in Los Feliz. I love recommending Bru to people because he appears in a “I Think You Should Leave” sketch. Tim Robinson leaves a job interview and is closing the door, but he has to push it and he doesn't want to look stupid, so he keeps closing it. In fact, they have a little plaque that says something interesting without being too obvious. I like to drink black espresso, Val likes coffees with oat milk, and Lila drinks steamed milk because she wants to feel like an adult. It's very nice.
10 a.m.: Read at least seven children's books at Skylight
Afterwards, we went to skylight booksthat is close. I can tell you from experience that they are incredibly generous in allowing you to read seven books to your children without any problems. Initially, I'll buy at least one of the books when we come out, because that's exactly what people are talking about when they say, “Buy local.”
11am: Drinks terrible dark green juice.
Then we will walk towards the Punch-bowl and I'm going to get some terrible dark green juice that no one wants and that would make a goat blind. I love it because I'm 46 years old and now I eat almost exclusively because of how it will make me feel. So it's not cool at all, but that's what I'm doing. My wife and daughter are going to have a smoothie called bee, which is very sweet and delicious.
Noon: A pancake for the table in the kitchen mouse
we would go to kitchen mouse in Highland Park. It's really modern. The last time I was there, I ran into Phoebe Bridgers. There are literally rock stars at Kitchen Mouse and there is a toddler area where my daughter can play with a fake burger and a boy she just met. I always get the same thing: the breakfast sandwich and a snickerdoodle pancake for the table. If you and I were to have breakfast together, I would never ask, “Do you want a pancake for the table?” because I don't need you to be my accomplice. Yo know You want a pancake for the table because guess who wants pancakes? All. This will reverse the juice you had before, but it will be worth it.
2 pm Enjoy an Angry Samoa donut in the park.
We have friends who live in Highland Park, so we would visit them and all take a walk to Donut friendand eat the donuts in the small park nearby. The park has giant bugs and a tubular slide. When you're 46 and have kids, sitting is your hero. Not to keep talking about veganism, but Donut Friend has really good vegan donuts. You have to get the Angry Samoa, which is a Girl Scout cookie.
I once went to Donut Friend while high on LSD and it was the funniest thing that ever happened to me in my life. I think it might have been my birthday and I was coming down. I'm not a crazy person. I just couldn't believe there was another person standing there with all the donuts in the world. It felt so overwhelmingly loving that they said, “What donut can I give you?” I was floored by the generosity. I was probably making a… of myself, like I was laughing in that hippie way. Not like a drunk but like a benevolent alien who couldn't believe this planet had donuts. They gave me one and I wish I could have seen myself eating it. My wife was there. She doesn't take psychedelics, so she was just looking at me, like she was looking out for me, to be honest. While eating the donut, she was laughing so hard at how happy she was. I wouldn't do that on a normal Sunday. That's kind of weird to me, but it's a true Donut Friend story.
4 pm: Feel elegant in he Huntington
The biggest trick of parenthood is he Huntington. Speaking of Phoebe Bridgers, she mentions jumping the fence in her song “Garden Song.” [at the Huntington]which always seems like a nice detail to me. I think they filmed “Beverly Hills Ninja” in the Japanese Gardens there. One of my favorite things to do in Los Angeles is white glove tea service. It's not that expensive and you feel elegant. We will also stop at the Chinese. [garden] and get noodles there because every step of the way you have to eat constantly.
7 pm: Well made vegan food
If it were just me and Valerie, I'd like to go to Crossroads [Kitchen]. I love him to death. When the pandemic hit, they were sending us text messages asking if we were okay and if we needed food. We thought, “What do you have?” and the manager brought it. If anyone is wondering if that's a famous thing, I really don't think so. I really think their goal is to serve the community because I'm not that famous. [laughs]. We've been there enough, we've had enough conversations and it's a staple for us.
It's a vegan restaurant and some meat-eating friends say their carbonara is their favorite. It's not like one of those vegan places that try to trick you or fry things. They actually make you eat really delicious things that turn out to be like artichokes. I've celebrated many birthdays there and it's clear that this is where people go looking for the best food in Los Angeles.
9 pm: Check out whatever's playing on Largo
What I like to do most once a month is Long in the Crown. I literally once dreamed of a magical place that felt safe and the crowd was always good and you felt warm. As if the twinkling lights became a place of celebration. That's Largo. It's the only place where, if someone visits Los Angeles, I would say go to Largo. It doesn't matter who acts. One night it could be me, the next night it could be Chris Fleming and then it could be Sarah Silverman. So it could be an improvised Shakespeare and then it could be a live podcast. It doesn't matter. yes flanny [Mark Flanagan] I booked it, it is exceptional. It's from Belfast and it's something mythical.
11 p.m.: Eat in Normas
Standards It's literally a block from Largo, and if Val and I really had a kid-free night, she, Flanny, and I would go there for our celebration. Judd Apatow does the show a lot and loves food, so he would be there too. They give you a shake or some fries, but it's open 24 hours a day. I think Los Angeles gets a bad rap for not having diners. It's true that in New York they are everywhere.
Midnight: Enjoy “blue couch time”
No matter what time it is when we get home, we have to watch at least one episode of something. “30 Rock” or right now we're watching “Black Rabbit,” but that's not a good show to relax on. Our couch is blue, that's why we call it “blue couch time” and it's a ritual we don't miss. It doesn't even matter what we're watching. We just want to be on that couch, even if it's just for 12 minutes. I can't go from the car to bed. I want to go from the car to something else and then to bed. That's why houses have entrances or a vestibule. There's a threshold you're supposed to cross, take off your coat and shoes. You are entering a new space. For us it is the blue sofa.
